Deputy Director General for Technical Services at the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), Dr. Eric Amoah, has clarified the Council’s mandate regarding curriculum development and textbook approval, explaining that textbooks remain supplementary materials rather than the primary vehicle for classroom instruction.
Dr. Amoah’s clarification comes amid ongoing public discussion around the cost of educating Ghanaian children, with his remarks offering insight into how curriculum standards, textbook publishing, and assessment processes function within the country’s basic education system.
Dr. Amoah explained that NaCCA’s core mandate is to develop curriculum and assessment standards, a mandate that involves both the development of curriculum content and the assurance that curriculum implemented in classrooms is properly assessed.
According to Dr. Amoah, NaCCA’s legal mandate does not permit the Council to develop textbooks directly. He explained that following the development of curriculum, NaCCA is limited to producing supplementary materials, while the actual development of textbooks falls under the responsibility of private publishers operating within the education sector.
“Our mandate doesn’t allow us to develop textbooks. So after the development of the curriculum, we can only develop supplementary materials. But textbooks are developed by publishers.”
Dr. Eric Amoah
He explained that once publishers have developed their textbooks, the law requires them to submit these materials to NaCCA for vetting and assessment, a process designed to confirm that the content conforms with the approved national curriculum.
Three-Part Submission Requirement for Basic School Books
Dr. Amoah outlined the specific requirements publishers must meet when submitting materials for NaCCA’s assessment, explaining that for books intended for basic schools, submissions must include the textbook itself, an accompanying teacher’s guide, and a workbook.
“You will need these three things before we can now accept your book to assess it.”
Dr. Eric Amoah
He explained that NaCCA’s assessment process is specifically designed to verify that submitted materials align with curriculum standards, and where discrepancies are identified, publishers are required to resolve the issues raised before the Council can grant approval and subsequent certification permitting the books to be sold on the market.
Dr. Amoah clarified that despite NaCCA’s role in assessing and approving textbooks, the Council does not designate a single, generalised textbook that every learner across Ghana is required to use for a given subject.
He explained that after approval, different publishers’ books are free to enter the market and compete for use in schools, without any single title being imposed nationwide.
He noted that while government retains the ability to decide on purchasing a particular textbook for learners, such a decision does not restrict learners from using other approved materials in addition to what government has procured, preserving flexibility within the system rather than enforcing uniformity around a single publisher’s product.
Curriculum, Not Textbooks, Is What Is Standardised
Dr. Amoah stressed that what remains standardised across the country is the curriculum itself, not the specific textbooks used to support its delivery. He explained that Ghana’s curriculum is standard-based and applies uniformly across all regions, whether in Tamale, Accra, or Bono East, with teachers expected to demonstrate what he described as fidelity of implementation in delivering that standardised content.
“The textbooks are just supplementary materials that go to supplement what teachers give to the learners in the class.”
Dr. Eric Amoah
He explained that because textbooks serve a supplementary function rather than replacing the curriculum itself, NaCCA cannot mandate that all Ghanaian children rely exclusively on one textbook brand for a given subject, since a book recommended broadly may not necessarily suit every individual learner’s needs.
Flexibility Preserved Despite Government Procurement Decisions
Dr. Amoah said that even where government decides to procure and distribute a specific textbook brand for learners, this decision does not restrict learners from acquiring additional books beyond what has been supplied through government channels.
He explained that this flexibility is intentional, allowing for variation in learning preferences and styles across the country’s diverse student population, while ensuring that the underlying curriculum standards remain consistently applied regardless of which specific textbook a learner or school ultimately chooses to use.
Taken together, Dr. Amoah’s remarks outline a structured regulatory system in which curriculum standards remain fixed and centrally governed, while textbook selection remains comparatively open, subject only to NaCCA’s vetting and certification process rather than a single nationally mandated title.
This approach, according to Dr. Amoah, reflects a deliberate policy choice aimed at balancing the need for national curriculum consistency with the practical reality that different textbooks may serve different learners more effectively depending on their individual learning needs and preferences.
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